Cody Glenn-USA TODAY Sports
Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled his “roadmap to recovery” on Tuesday in which he nearly made official what most Californians already assumed: Sports, as the state has known them, are a long way off.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced state and country residents into seclusion, isolating from one another to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Newsom called it “unlikely” that a sporting event (or any other event) would be held in the state with significant crowds this summer.
“The prospect of mass gatherings is negligible at best until we get to herd immunity and we get to a vaccine,” Newsom said in a remote news conference. “So large-scale events that bring in hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of strangers altogether across every conceivable difference, health and otherwise is not in the cards based upon our current guidelines and current expectations.”
That would mean no Giants games at Oracle Park and Warriors games at Chase Center. While the NBA has seemed to accept the reality it will not be hosting more games this season, MLB continues to try to uncover a way for games to be played, the most notable being sequestering each team in Arizona for games that would be played predominantly in spring training stadiums without fans.
Even if some plan is realized, it sounds as if California will not see a baseball game this summer.
Rather than setting a target timetable, Newsom laid out a six-point checklist that must be fulfilled before reopening the state:
1. “The ability to monitor and protect our communities through testing, contact tracing, isolating, and supporting those who are positive or exposed;
2. The ability to prevent infection in people who are at risk for more severe COVID-19;
3. The ability of the hospital and health systems to handle surges;
4. The ability to develop therapeutics to meet the demand;
5. The ability for businesses, schools, and child care facilities to support physical distancing;
6. The ability to determine when to reinstitute certain measures, such as the stay-at-home orders, if necessary.”